Church Shootings In Moscow, Idaho

Submariner Dale at Right Mind is blogging from Moscow about the shootings in the Presbyterian church there. I'm sure he'll have updates and links throughout the day as the situation develops.

Update 0823 20 May: Reports from the scene indicate that police have entered the church, and reportedly found at least the shooter dead inside. Area residents are being allowed to leave their homes.

Update 2226 20 May: The story has gotten even sadder. The shooter, who comes from the town just south of where I live, killed his wife at the beginning of the rampage. The policeman he killed, Lee Newbill (who is the first officer ever killed in the line of duty in Moscow) was a former Army officer.

This tragedy should highlight the problems of gun ownership by those with histories of domestic violence, as the shooter, Jason Hamilton, did. (Sara from F-Words, who's also in Moscow, discusses more on the domestic violence angle on her blog.) While most people recognize that gun ownership is an important right, there are times when people's actions should necessitate removing that right from them until they demonstrate they're no longer a danger to the community. (Not that it would have done much good in this case, since he was already under a judge's orders not to own guns, but he obviously didn't turn them in.)